Credit card billing is supplementing and gradually replacing the use of cash as the preferred method for the payment of goods and services. The use of credit cards for the payment of telecommunication services also is increasing and, in some situations such as calls from pay telephones, is the preferrd method of paying for calls.
To better manage the increasing use of credit cards to bill telecommunication services, telephone companies have incorporated data base systems to provide automated billing of calls or to assist the operator in the billing of calls. One such arrangement is described in A. B. Mearns U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,377. In Mearns, a method of automatically processing special service calls (such as credit card, collect and charge-to-a-third number calls) is disclosed which verifies the entitlement of a caller to charge and bill the call to a number other than that of the station from which the call is originated. The method, referred to as ABC (Auto Bill Calling), furnishes automated collect calling and unrestricted calling on credit card and charge-to-a-third number calls.
Businesses have found it desirable to provide their employees with credit cards for charging telephone calls during business trips. However, businesses do not want to pay for non-business related calls of the employee. Businesses would like a cost-effective way to restrict certain types of credit card calls.
One prior AT&T service uses a "call me" card which prevents a caller from using a telephone charge card to bill a call to other than the telephone number on the telephone charge card. The above-identified Mearns patent also discloses a method for assisting operators in preventing collect calls and bill-to-a-third number calls from being billed to pay telephone stations within a designated area.
Notwithstanding these important prior art arrangements, there is an increasing need to provide businesses and other owners of credit cards with a more flexible way to restrict the use of their credit cards for billing communications calls.